Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Democrats To Trump: There's Something You Can Do Now About Those High Drug Prices
Stat: Democrats Urge Trump To Issue Rules On Overriding Patents
More than 50 Democratic lawmakers have told President Trump that he can take one step himself to lower drug prices: Instruct the National Institutes of Health to override patents for medicines that were discovered with federal funds, but carry price tags that are out of reach for many Americans. In a letter sent on Tuesday, they argued the NIH should be encouraged to pursue so-called march-in rights. Under a 1980 federal law, this allows an agency that funds private research to require a drug maker to license its patent to another party in order to “alleviate health and safety needs which are not being reasonably satisfied” or when the benefits of a drug are not available on “reasonable terms.” (Silverman, 4/5)
Stat: Oncologists Oppose 'Right To Try' Laws, Fearing Unintended Harms
In a significant development, the American Society of Clinical Oncology has become the first major medical society to come out against the burgeoning “right to try” movement, which is pursuing federal and state legislation to hasten access to experimental drugs. In a blunt statement, the organization argued the “right to try” concept, which is now law in 33 states, fails to “adequately” protect patients, does little to provide patient access to experimental drugs, and may interfere with a recent federal law designed to reform the existing process. (Silverman, 4/5)
And in other pharmaceutical news —
Boston Globe: Meeker Stepping Down From Top Job At Sanofi Genzyme
Veteran biotech leader David Meeker is stepping down from the top job at Cambridge-based Sanofi Genzyme at the end of June to make way for Bill Sibold, an executive Meeker hired six years ago. Meeker, 62, was a protege of longtime Genzyme Corp. chief executive Henri Termeer, an industry pioneer who built the company into the largest life sciences employer in Massachusetts before selling it to French drug giant Sanofi SA for more than $20 billion in 2011. Termeer retired that year and Sanofi named Meeker executive vice president and head of the Genzyme division. (Weisman, 4/5)
